It is common knowledge that East Asian countries such as China/Korea/Japan/Taiwan have an extremely strong ESL presence and you could argue that is is due to their economic success (generally speaking) and can afford to pay the teachers. On the other end of the spectrum, there is Thailand/Malaysia/Indonesia/Vietnam which are economically struggling but still have quite a large market.

I was curious as to what is preventing countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Mongolia and the Stans from being held in the same regard? Are their governments against employing foreigners? Do they not have the infrastructure? Have they not realized the long term benefits of ESL in the country? Are they already somewhat proficient in English? I know it's a wide generalization but I'm very interested.

Are these markets that have yet to open up their borders? As our current markets start to fade away (definitely seeing this in Japan & Korea - although the level of English is still dismal), will these nations catch on?

There are job postings in these countries but I've found the requirements are pretty high and candidates are drawn from experience in their own western countries as opposed to your standard unrelated BA/Celta +3 yrs in Thailand.

A. Visa restrictions for certain nationalities.
B. Good supply of capable and qualified local instructors.
C. Difficulty recruiting highly-qualified foreign teachers due to low pay, lack of benefits, high cost of living, etc.
D. English instruction not given much support or funding from government education ministries.
E. Country's socio-political instability and/or slow economic growth.
F. The TEFL market is open to a select few or to specific entities. (See below.)
G. All or some of the above.

I have an Irish friend teaching in Mongolia and a Dutch friend recently new to Kazakhstan. Plus, I believe the British Council has offices in some, if not all, of these countries.

For American teachers with a couple of years' experience and a TESOL-related MA, Georgetown University's English Language Fellow (ELF) Program (http://elfellowprogram.org) has one-year, diverse projects in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and even Nepal. These projects are funded through a division of the US State Department.

Last edited by nomad soul on Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:38 pm; edited 1 time in total

A. Visa restrictions for certain nationalities.
B. Good supply of capable and qualified local instructors.
C. Difficulty recruiting highly-qualified foreign teachers due to low pay, lack of benefits, high cost of living, etc.
D. English instruction not given much support or funding from government education ministries.
E. Country's socio-political instability and slow economic growth.
F. The TEFL market is open to a select few or to specific entities. (See below.)
G. All or some of the above.

I have an Irish friend teaching in Mongolia and a Dutch friend recently new to Kazakhstan. For American teachers with a couple of years' experience and a TESOL-related MA, Georgetown University's English Language Fellow (ELF) Program (http://elfellowprogram.org) has one-year, diverse projects in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and even Nepal. These projects are funded through a division of the US State Department.

That sounds very rewarding. I'd love to work in the aforementioned countries (esp. Nepal & Bang.) however as an Australian I don't think we have such specific programs available.

On my last trip holiday to Nepal I attempted to do some on the ground headhunting out of interest. The language institutes were offering just under $4 an hour and the conditions looked horrendous. Run down buildings with construction out the front... very uninviting.

Seems like quite a unique environment and those who get in enjoy it immensely.

IMO the potential rewards of working in poorly developed countries (like most of those listed) are much greater than in developed countries. The downsides of course are much lower rates of pay and possibly greater personal risk. Most of us don't have the bottle to work in these places but I imagine many of those who do have a memorable experience, and mostly for the right reasons. In my next life I intend to ...